Turning my blue jeans green

I’m preparing a longer post that is going to be called: Easy ways to green-up your life.
When working on it I read about how many liters of water the production of 1 pair of jeans costs. Do you have any idea?
800 liters is the shocking answer*! TreeHuggereven mentioned the incredible amount of 1,800 gallons (around 8,183 liters).

But that is not all… Some years ago I saw the documentary China Blue and it made me feel very sad to witness how teenage girls work day and night in factories, but also I felt embarrassed about the fact how some Western jeans brands demand ridiculous low prices at Asian factories.
Later brands like Gap Jeans and Levi’s were under fire, because of dumping toxic waste in Africa. Not mentioning the blue rivers…

Since I watched China Blue and started to learn more about the production process in the fashion industry, I didn’t buy a pair of jeans without checking its label. To see if it’s made in Europe and/or if the brand has proven to be green and clean at all levels. Unfortunately it’s still a challenge to find a pair of trousers that combines these factors with a great fitting cut and an affordable price. But, I’ve just discovered Monkee Genes and have the feeling this British jeans brand is exactly what I’m looking for!
I’m curious to how their designs will fit.

Kuyichi Salvage Project

When finishing this post, three news messages arrived in my inbox:

1. Dutch organic jeans brand Kuyichi just announced their Salvage Project: a 100% recycled women’s and men’s collection of one-of-a-kind pieces made of used garments. The unique items will be sold at an upcoming, but still to be announced event.

2. Levi’s has already saved over 172 million liters of water with its Water<Less project that reduces the water usage during the finishing process of a pair of Levi’s up to 96% for some styles. The first Water<Less collection was released in January 2011. Bravo Levi’s, but when will all of your jeans be sustainable?

3. There will be a second Indie Brands event in Amsterdam coming Thursday May 10, 2012 and that edition is all about denim! Indie Brands is the brilliant book of author Anneloes van Gaalen (see also my previous post about it). The theme of the upcoming Indie Brands event will be denim, but the scope of the conversation will be much broader and of interest to all those with a love for indie entrepreneurship. Independent brands – from jean labels to organic lifestyle brands – will come together in ‘denim city’ Amsterdam to share ideas, talk business and inspire creatives and other indie entrepreneurs in the making.